bd's Mongolian Barbeque
1854 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216-932-1185
Here at Eatingcleveland.com we receive a lot of suggestions for which restaurant we should review next. I read one of these suggestions last week that really caught my eye:
Mark,
You know, for always saying that you are a fat man, I'm surprised you haven't visited BD's Mongolian Barbecue in Coventry. Its all you can eat which sounds perfect for a man of your size.Tony
Well, thanks Tony, I guess. Although you seem like a real prick, you're suggestion doesn't sound half bad. As a matter of fact, we've heard from a number of our readers asking us to try bd's Mongolian Barbeque and we thought it was about time to try it out. Last Sunday, before the Browns game, we ventured down to Coventry and after climbing through throngs of hippies and yuppies, we eventually made it to the doors of bd's Barbeque.
I can see the reflection of a fat man on that glass.
We walked in just after noon and considering all of the people that have raved about the place, we were surprised to see the restaurant almost empty. Maybe everyone in the area was just getting up after smoking dope and reviewing their Land Rover's insurance policy, but they sure weren't interested in stir-fry. With the place being so empty, the hostess was quick to seat us at a table with a waiter who was just itching for his first tip of the day. Although we were given menus, they were pretty much useless considering there were only two items: the all you can eat stir-fry ($11.99) or the one trip option ($7.99).
Now being the fat man that I am, I was planning on the all you can eat option from the get-go, but here is a tip for those of you skinny bastards who are going to be filled up after one trip, make sure you tell you waiter that you are just a little guy and you are only going to making one trip. Apparently the deal is, and I think this is a load of crap, unless you specifically say something, you're ordering the all you can eat. So before your waiter takes your menu and runs off into never-never land, let him know what you want.
bd's is a lot like the other stir-fry restaurants, there is a big salad bar type island where you walk along with a bowl and choose the ingredients that you want. There were a number of different meats and seafoods to choose from including: beef, pork, chicken, lamb, shrimp, squid and many others. That was nice to see as most of the other stir-fry restaurants usually have only beef, chicken and shrimp, each at a different price. The vegetable selection was your classic mix of Asian stir-fry items like onions, mushrooms, peppers and the like, nothing really jumped out to me as unique. I would estimate there were about 10-15 different sauces for your stir-fry, I personally liked the Mongolian ginger the best.
Once we assembled all the parts of our creations, we moved over to the centerpiece of the restaurant, the giant circular grill. You hand your selections over and the cooks go to work cooking up your meal. It only takes a few minutes depending on ingredients. If you tip these guys working the grill they bang a gong and scream out some cheer which I consider to be all the more reason not to tip them. By the time we made it back to the table our server had delivered our meal's accompaniments, a big bowl of white rice and warm tortillas, or as Jason called them, "unnecessary fillers".
I want to sneak in some night and make one of those Uncle Buck pancakes on this badboy.
The food tasted very good, but it should be considered that I picked out all of the ingredients and sauces, so I kinda had something to do with it. For those of you that are less adventurous, the restaurant does offer a number of meal cards that tell you what meats, vegetables and sauces that will go well together.While I was at bd's Mongolian Barbeque, I learned 3 important things:
- Get the all you can eat. That way, if you don't happen to like what you made the first time, you can always go up again.
- I like lamb. I didn't think that I liked lamb, but I ate about five pounds of it that day. No exaggeration.
- This one was by far the most surprising to me. After years of trying to use chopsticks with my right hand with little success, I discovered that by simply switching the chopsticks to my dominate left hand I become a ever so nimble chopstick user. I am a moron.
I really liked bd's Mongolian Barbeque and I plan on going back soon. Its a nice environment to enjoy a meal and its definitely a unique eating experience. If you are looking for a different all you can eat restaurant, I suggest giving bd's Mongolian Barbeque a try.
Bonus Follow-up: If you sign up for the bd's Mongolian "Club Mongo" before you go, they will send you an email for $5 off your next visit. Can't beat that. Sign up here: www.gomongo.com
Some other posts you might enjoy:
